I have a couple of questions about the RedHat default Kernel.

#1 - Does it have IRDA support built in? I am trying to hook a Palm M505 to my Thinkpad 600X via infrared and I am having trouble.

#2 - If I want to recompile the kernel and have the ability to boot both kernels via the installed GRUB boot loader, what are the steps to do so?

#3 - What is the default kernel config? Where do I look? I would like to see the kernel config for the kernel I am using now, so that I can compare to any one that I may change in the future. Where would I find the file for the default kernel config?

Thanks for any help I can get on this!

I think redhat place a copy of the config in /boot.

1. Yes, RedHat compiles most hardware options as modules.. The modules are stored under /lib/modules/<kernel-version>/drivers/net/irda/ . You may have to modprobe the right module for your hardware.

2. Download the plain vanilla kernel source ( latest version is 2.4.20 ) from ftp://ftp.kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.4/ . Check kernel howto at tldp.org . RH usually configures your bootloader by adding the new kernel. You may want to look at grub howto to make sure that everything is the way it should be.

3. If you installed the kernel sources(/usr/src/linux-<version>, you will find the RH kernel config files under configs. Copy the one that suits you the best into the parent directory as .config before you make xconfig/menuconfig ( if you dont know what that means, you will find out from the kernel howto )

HTH

ls -al /boot/config*
the one that boot links to is the one your system is using.
copy it over to /usr/src/linux/.configure (the period is important)
or select load custom config in the menuconfig/xconfig.
I definitly suggest www.tldp.org and read the Kernel-HOWTO which gives you everything but the grub info.

.config it is. Aint it?

.config it is.